Composition/Pattern Analysis
“There is no better time to crop a bad composition than just before you press the shutter release.”
I wanted to write a little bit and go over some photographs with you. I find one of the most rewarding things to do is look into the hard drives and go over photographs you’ve taken and may have forgotten about. This type of analyzing allows for a period of learning and looking into something within that drove you to take the photo.
First things first, I use this time of going through my images, and 9/10, I find a pattern and theme across my portfolio of work that I didn’t notice before. It allows me time to look into that pattern, and self reflect on my being. Is there a common emotion? Is there something more to the mind/art gap?
For example, here’s a series of photographs from nine, seven, three, and within a year ago.
Looking into the photographs across years of shooting, I see myself falling into a similar composition. A similar theme. I am drawn to uniqueness left alone by itself. I feel as though I’m shooting these singular focal points to give an audience to something overlooked. I could probably dive into the emotional side of feeling similar to my images, but that’s too deep for tonight. Tonight I wanted to touch on the subject of self reflecting on your images and seeing if there’s something they might be trying to teach you. I did however want to show some images and break down the compositions quickly, and maybe you’ll be inspired to frame some future photographs in a similar way.
Let’s take a look:
In this image, I have multiple leading lines bringing the eye to the sky. From the bottom of the image, I have matching lines in the different grass textures and the fence line. The lines form somewhat of an upside down “V” bringing you right into the top third consisting of trees and sky. The middle third to the sky is the focal point. I think of it as a sandwich. The lower third is showing distance with the depth of field, the middle third is guiding you to the jackpot, and the top third is the reward.
This next image is composed with a focus on vertical thirds. Opposite as the previous, but still the same.
“Same same but different but still same”
Vertical thirds. Easy peasy. Let’s start from the obvious focal point on the left. You have the horse’s head coming out of the barn, the middle third is some negative space, and a fairly close right third showing a headless horse going into the barn. Add in the leading line running diagonally to the right third, and you get a long necked horse. Pretty funny right?
The thing to remember is that composition is important, but the secret is not dwelling on it. You can ask people who have been around me while I shoot. I don’t focus on perfect composition. I just shoot what I feel like shooting, when I feel like shooting it. I don’t fiddle around with compositions. I just walk and shoot for the most part. I learned composition through hours of looking at other’s work. It’s natural at this point and it honestly just happens to work out in a majority of my images. If you understand the basics of thirds and leading lines, it’s immediately where you go when looking into the viewfinder. I’d rather have an image that might be lacking on the “composition” rules and excels in making me feel something. It’s all practice. It’s an opportunity to learn and improve.
As always, keep shooting. Keep creating. Keep learning. Keep improving.
